Company History

In 1981, entrepreneurs, Peter and Irma Orum created Midwest Trading in St. Charles, Illinois as a horticultural hardgoods supply company. Through hard work and dedication to customer service, the company has grown to become a major supplier of hardgoods and other landscaping supplies in the Chicago area and the Midwestern States.

Midwest Tradings’ history began with supplying peat moss and potting media to nursery growers and later expanded into other non-plant products such as mushroom compost, growing containers, and VersaQuonset greenhouses.

In 1993, Midwest Trading expanded into the hardwood bark mulch market, producing mainly premium hardwood bark mulch. Soon thereafter, pine bark mulch, pine and hardwood fines and red cedar products were introduced. Also in 1993, a soil blending facility was constructed, allowing for the custom mixing of raw materials into finished landscape and nursery mixes. Midwest Trading has become well known in the industry for high quality media production.

In 1999, Midwest Trading became the licensed producer of CU-Structural Soil™ in the region. This material was developed and tested by Cornell University. It is a revolutionary patented stone/soil urban tree mix that extends the life and improves the growth of trees adjacent to pavement.

In 2000, Midwest Trading lead the way into the emerging green-roof market by developing, and making available, suitable growth media formulations. These formulations are based on the German FLL standards with over 40 years of green-roof experience. Midwest Trading has since supplied the vast majority of green-roof installations in the region including Chicago City Hall.

In 2003, Midwest Groundcovers joined Midwest Trading and entered the ‘green-roof’ market to develop and market eco-roofs to clients in Chicago and Milwaukee. Projects include the O’Hare International Airport parking garage, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Milwaukee Zoo and Target, Inc.

Facility and Equipment Development:

In December 2005, the Midwest Trading office relocated to a 35-acre parcel at the Virgil, Illinois facility, 4.5 miles west of Route 47 on Route 64. Key highlights include:

Headquarters Office and Sales Yard.

State-of- the-art Mix Plant: Mix Plant which produces up to 400 yards of finished mix per hour or the equivalent of 55 semi loads of finished mix per 8 hour shift.

Equipment and inventory storage warehouse.

Also in 2005, the Midwest Trading St. Charles Yard was combined with the existing Midwest Groundcovers Sales Yard. All of Midwest Trading’s products can be picked up in either St. Charles or Virgil.

In January of 2014, Midwest Trading purchased LoadScan®, a load volume scanner to help facilitate measurement of loads of mulch leaving our Ottawa facility. This innovative measurement system is the first of its kind in the Chicago area, and Midwest Trading is proud to introduce this technology to better serve our customers.

Since 1981, Midwest Trading has been a leader in the Green Industry, providing quality products and services to our customers in an ever growing and changing market. We are proud of our history and achievements over the years and look forward to serving our customers for many years to come!